


The Path We Follow

by rizcriz



Series: tumblr is dying time to get compiling [29]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Angst, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 14:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16956156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rizcriz/pseuds/rizcriz
Summary: Post season three -- Is Eliot even alive under the monster?





	The Path We Follow

The day they all find out is a harsh juxtaposition to the solemn heartache in the air. The creature is off playing a game with Quentin, to give them a chance to get their answers. But the sun is shining, and there’s a soft breeze blowing through the trees surrounding the playground they’re huddled up under.

“You’re sure?” Kady asks, soft.

Julia nods, wrapping her arms around herself tighter. “I asked. Then I asked again, and then I asked two more gods. They all say the same thing.”

“And there’s nothing we can do to reset anything?”

She shakes her head. “Once the creature inhabits a body, the soul dies within 48 hours. No afterlife. No underworld. They just… cease to exist. It’s why the creature is so dangerous. It can kill gods, humans, demons—whatever it wants so long as it can survive in them for more than two days.”

“This is bullshit.”

Julia turns her head to look at Margo and nods again, but Margo turns on her heel and heads over to sit on one of the swings.

Penny clears his throat, “Okay, so. Eliots dead.”

“Worse than dead.”

“Okay. Worse than dead.” He nods to himself before rolling his shoulders, “So who’s going to tell Quentin?”

They all slowly turn their gazes to their shoes.

“Maybe it’s best if we don’t,” Kady suggests. “Let him think—“

“Are you crazy?” Josh hisses, “Do you have any idea how fucked up that is?”

Kady makes a face, “Alright. Take a look at his current mental health. And his current state is with hope that we can get Eliot back.”

It’s not secret he’s falling apart, despite his desperate attempts to hide it beneath plans of action. Behind distractions for he creature with magic tricks and card games.

If Quentin was depressed before everything, his current state of mind is somewhere far beyond depression. He’s desperate. And desperation wreaks havoc on the mind.

“Tell me how you think he’ll take it.” She tosses her hands out beside her, and lets them slap back against her thighs, “What you think he’ll do once he accepts it.”

Josh inhaled slowly before nodding halfheartedly and taking a step back. “Good point.”

“So we’re agreed,” Kady says after a moment, swallowing and looks each of them over individually. “We let him hope. If he’s fighting to save Eliot he has a reason not to kill himself.”

“What about Margo?”

“She’ll agree.”

Penny looks out across the park at Margo, where she’s swaying slightly on the swing, staring blankly ahead at the wood chips on the ground before her. “How can you be sure?”

“Because with Eliot gone, she’s going to do whatever she has to to make sure she doesn’t lose Quentin.” Penny looks back to Julia, and she shrugs a shoulder. “Q and Eliot are her only family. With Eliot gone, Q’s all she has.”

“She has us.”

Josh shakes his head. “It’s not the same. The three of them… it’s just not the same, man. You’re still the new guy. You don’t know what they are to each other.”

“Okay. This plan is all fine and dandy… but what about when we figure out how to kill the creature?”

“Then we’ll figure out a plan to protect Q,” Julia murmurs, “We’ve lost the one person he’d risk the fucking universe for. One day he’ll find out but until we know what we can do to kill the creature, he doesn’t need to know. Our new priority needs to be protecting him.”

“She’s right,” josh nods. “Quentin’s risked a whole fucking lot to help us get our memories back, even before he remembered everything. The least we can do is save him that heartbreak for as long as possible.”

“And then be there when it all comes apart.”

A quiet falls over the group as they turn their gazes back on Margo. She hasn’t moved, not by body or eyesight. Gaze still locked on the wood chips scraping against the balls of her shoes.

“Let’s go talk to her.”

“No,” Kady places a hand on Penny’s chest and shakes her head. “Give her a few minutes. Quentin’s fine distracting the creature for a while longer. She needs a chance to accept it.”

“Will she?”

“Absolutely not. But she doesn’t have a choice.”

None of them do.

The sun gazes down on them, gentle and patient.

The day is easy but those to come won’t be.


End file.
